Gas gouge hits SIUE
Travis L. Ross
Issue date: 6/9/04 Section: News
If gas prices have got you feeling like a chump at the pump, you're not alone.
"I remember when it cost me $10 to fill up my car; and that's sad because I have only been driving for about seven years," Student Senator and graduate student Jason Jacobson said. "In the past year it's gone from around $1 per gallon to if it's under $1.95, it's a deal."
Jacobson said high gas prices have him walking and carpooling a lot more.
Eanista Dixon, a criminal justice senior, said she looks at high gas prices as an opportunity to cut down on excess driving.
"I don't have any recreational money (with the high gas prices), and if I don't have to go, I just don't go," Dixon said. She said she and her husband "even carpool to keep gas in the
car."
Anita Terry is a Dining Services administrator, who has another job at a Mobile gas station in Granite City. She took an alternative approach to carpooling and walking when she saw people slapping down $50 just to pay for gas - she traded in her vehicle.
"I traded in a 2002 Camero Super Sport for a four-wheel drive Jeep Liberty that got 18 miles to the gallon," Terry said.
About a month ago, when it looked like the Liberty was going to become a gas-guzzling burden, Terry traded again.
"This time I got a diesel-powered 2004 Volkswagen Jetta," Terry said. "The guy I bought my Jetta from said there was a point not too long ago when they couldn't even get rid of the diesels, and in the two weeks prior to me buying mine, they had sold 12 of them."
Terry said she filled up with gas immediately after she bought the vehicle May 15. As of May 27, she had gone 532 miles and still had at least a quarter of a tank left.
"I paid $1.72 (a gallon) that day for diesel as opposed to paying $1.98 for gas," Terry said. "I figure I'm saving at least $40 a month, probably more than that, just because I drive a diesel."
Lee Jackson, spokesman for Dave Mungenast Alton Toyota-Dodge, said salespeople there have seen changes in what a lot of customers are looking for.
"I remember when it cost me $10 to fill up my car; and that's sad because I have only been driving for about seven years," Student Senator and graduate student Jason Jacobson said. "In the past year it's gone from around $1 per gallon to if it's under $1.95, it's a deal."
Jacobson said high gas prices have him walking and carpooling a lot more.
Eanista Dixon, a criminal justice senior, said she looks at high gas prices as an opportunity to cut down on excess driving.
"I don't have any recreational money (with the high gas prices), and if I don't have to go, I just don't go," Dixon said. She said she and her husband "even carpool to keep gas in the
car."
Anita Terry is a Dining Services administrator, who has another job at a Mobile gas station in Granite City. She took an alternative approach to carpooling and walking when she saw people slapping down $50 just to pay for gas - she traded in her vehicle.
"I traded in a 2002 Camero Super Sport for a four-wheel drive Jeep Liberty that got 18 miles to the gallon," Terry said.
About a month ago, when it looked like the Liberty was going to become a gas-guzzling burden, Terry traded again.
"This time I got a diesel-powered 2004 Volkswagen Jetta," Terry said. "The guy I bought my Jetta from said there was a point not too long ago when they couldn't even get rid of the diesels, and in the two weeks prior to me buying mine, they had sold 12 of them."
Terry said she filled up with gas immediately after she bought the vehicle May 15. As of May 27, she had gone 532 miles and still had at least a quarter of a tank left.
"I paid $1.72 (a gallon) that day for diesel as opposed to paying $1.98 for gas," Terry said. "I figure I'm saving at least $40 a month, probably more than that, just because I drive a diesel."
Lee Jackson, spokesman for Dave Mungenast Alton Toyota-Dodge, said salespeople there have seen changes in what a lot of customers are looking for.
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